Class

Idea to Screenplay

Do you have an amazing idea for a screenplay? Are you curious about how the screenwriting process works? Take your project from idea to screenplay in four steps! In this beginner class, you’ll learn about what goes into a great screenplay and start generating your own pages. Each week will be devoted to one step of the screenplay development process: brainstorming, carding, outlining, and drafting. Along the way, we’ll have fun exploring what makes a good “hook” for a film or TV show, how to craft a compelling scene, what to do with multiple storylines, and how to achieve the perfect balance of action, description, and dialogue. Each session will be both instruction- and discussion-based. Students are encouraged to share their story ideas and writing in class, and to share constructive verbal feedback on one another’s work. (And yes, we’ll also talk about how to give and receive notes—a major part of the screenwriting life!) As we develop our ideas, we’ll explore narrative structures like “the hero’s journey,” “the heroine’s journey,” and nonlinear narratives, and we’ll get inspiration from a diverse selection of screenplays by contemporary screenwriters including Taika Waititi, Ava DuVernay, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jordan Peele.

This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book; we encourage participants to be fully vaccinated and masked in the interest of everyone’s safety. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.